"And so, I convinced the Bentulousians and Zenototes to compete in a friendly board game to figure out who would disembark first," Hermina had gone at length about her morning routine and daily activities and finally was reaching the root of why she had sought out Gwyn. Though, he had no idea where she was leading to and figured this was yet another tangent in a long line of tangents she had gone on in her explanation.

"They sent over their smartest members on a small ship we sent out to pick them up. Meanwhile, the dock's boss, Braxen, I believe, was scrambling to find the pieces we needed to play Czaric. Turns out he had a board and most of the set at the office, but they were missing the pivotal Czar piece for the red side. Apparently, they had a wild office party not too long ago."

Gwyn turned to Fiona, who appeared to be nodding off, as Hermina went into detail about what she had been told about the office party.

"Fiona, don't fall asleep," he said with a yawn.

"I know, she'll get to the point eventually...." Fiona answered with a yawn.

"But luckily, one of the team was sober enough during the party, so when Braxen came back with the almost complete set, he was able to remember where the missing piece was. He ran out to get it and came back just in time. The representatives were already ashore and heading to the office to play. The Zenototes surprised me in particular with their representative. She was rather young and would be considered very ugly by their standards, not that it made a difference to me, of course. Oh, and the Bentulousians sent exactly the lady I thought they would."

Hermina continued to stare off into space as she recounted the story of her day. She went into detail about every move each player had made, from what piece they moved to the space it went it and how every person in the room reacted to the play. Gwyn's head began to slump for a moment, but he suddenly shook it side to side to keep from nodding off.

"Then that Harlan made such an unexpected move! It threw everyone off; even Banner was confused. I couldn't believe it myself!"

Gwyn had almost nodded off when she gave the names of the opponents, but he was worried how long the story would be if he stopped her to clarify who was who.

"Would you believe it, though, just as she was going to make the winning move, the Netzians ship just came barging in! They went right through the two and headed to the shore. That wasn't the end of it, though. The other two shot off after the Netzians, and they all began a race to the shoreline. Need I remind you, the location is plenty big enough for all three to fit comfortably!"

Fiona perked up and tapped on Gwyn's shoulder.

"I think she's about to get to the point."

"That was such a mess. I managed to stop the three ships before they could crash into each other by the shore, but the Netzians managed to take the lead and started disembarking first. It's probably going to be the most talked-about moment of this year's conference, for better or worse," Hermina stopped to sigh before continuing, "Anyway, the Netzian leader headed right up to me and asked to see you immediately. So, after I got all the matters settled out at the shore, I headed out to find you!" Hermina finished her story and turned to Gwyn with a happy smile.

"Why do they want to meet me?" Gwyn asked.

"Well-" Hermina began.

"Never mind, let's go meet them!" Gwyn shouted as he jumped to his feet. He sensed if he let Hermina talk, he might be on the balcony a while longer. Fiona simply nodded as she realized Gwyn was picking up on the fact that her family was already acutely aware of.

"Great! I'll take you there now!" Hermina waved for Gwyn to follow and began to float from the balcony back into the castle. Gwyn looked to Fiona, who had also stood up. She began to walk with him as they followed.

"What are the Netzians, exactly?" Gwyn asked.

"You, you're a Netzian," Fiona explained.

"In the museum, it seemed to show a specific day they arrived on Resh, but there was no explanation of how they got here," Gwyn sped up as he realized Hermina was moving faster than the two of them. Fiona followed suit.

"That was a long time ago. Even if the Netaians knew then, they don't know now," Fiona explained. "I would guess that it was in the same way you arrived."

"But I don't know how I arrived...."

"Then you didn't cast a spell to come here?" Hermina asked as she led the way in front of them.

"Spell? Like magic?" Gwyn asked.

"I take it that's a no," Hermina concluded. She began a long muttering to herself about Gwyn's possible origins.

Gwyn pondered what she had said as they rounded a corner. They were standing in front of a door in one of the castle's many hallways in no time flat.

"They asked for you to be alone; Fiona will wait for you in the hallway; I, unfortunately, have some other things I need to get done before tomorrow's main event. You see.... Oh dear, look at the time; I'm sorry, I really must be going!"

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Hermina quickly left Gwyn in front of the door and Fiona leaning on the wall across from it. Her hover chair zoomed down the hallway and was soon out of sight.

"Do I knock?" Gwyn muttered to himself. As if on cue, the door slid open, and a Netzian greeted him.

She had the face of a human, but her neck gleamed with green scales. The scales seemed to stretch down her body since they also came out from under the sleeves of her shirt and went down halfway on her forearm. The rest of her arm and hand were clearly humans. Her face was dotted with freckles under her eyes.

She eagerly looked at Gwyn from top to bottom with yellow eyes that had slit pupils. Then she smiled a sharp, toothy grin at Gwyn before pulling him into the room.

The door slid shut behind Gwyn as the lady that had greeted him finally let go. He took a step back to observe the scene.

The room was clearly Aqueenian in nature with a curved design and housing a swirling pillar. Several beds had been set out in the room in a manner that resembled a hotel room. On one of the beds, a guy that looked very human sat with his arms crossed and an unpleasant look on his face. He had emerald green hair and more prominent than normal pupils, but otherwise, he would seem like any other human.

A second man was leaning against the wall. He was short and wide with an apparent oddly shaped bone that made up his forehead, as a shape seemed to press out under the skin. His eyes were closed as he rested on the wall, and Gwyn could not tell if he was awake or asleep.

The last person in the room was a young girl. She had snow-white hair that dangled down her face and two short animal-looking ears on her head. She shyly stood in the corner with a stance that seemed like she was prepared for Gwyn to attack in some way. She was turned slightly to the side so that he could only see one side of her. Her eyes didn't lose sight of Gwyn as he walked through the room.

"It's great to meet you!" The lady with reptilian features said as she greeted Gwyn by grabbing one of his hands with both of hers and shaking it excitedly. Gwyn awkwardly accepted her fierce greeting. She gave him a goofy grin that showed sharper fanged teeth than an average person would have.

The lady let go of Gwyn's hands and took a step back. She placed her hands on her hips as if to show off childlike confidence. Her nature was jarring for Gwyn as he would guess this woman was likely in her 50's if he only had her appearance to judge.

Contrasted to the other 3 in the room, Gwyn guessed that she at the very least might be the oldest by a considerable amount.

"Feya." The wide man with the odd forehead spoke up, and the lizard woman seemed to collect herself in response. She made a coughing sound in a balled fist as if to clear her throat. At this point, Gwyn noticed that she did not have a Needaimus attached to either arm; instead, it was fused to her leg.

"Well, we should first start with introductions. As you heard, I am called Feya, and I am the acting Dare. That big, grumpy-looking guy against the wall is Draco. The guy brooding on the bed is Hal, and the girl hiding in the corner is Ingrid," Feya said with a beaming smile, "Now, we only know you as the Nonpareil. What is your name?" she finished with an enthusiastic question. She clearly had no poker face as she eagerly awaited his response.

"Gwyn," he answered slowly.

"Gwyn!" Feya shouted as she repeated him. "Fascinating, tell me, what is the home world like!" Without missing a beat, she had already moved on to another question. Gwyn couldn't help but notice that she had inched closer as she asked the question.

"It... is big... and blue... and round..." Gwyn had never thought about how he would describe the planet he hailed from before.

"I know all that; tell me what it is like? How does it compare to Resh?" She once again inched closer as she eagerly awaited the response.

Gwyn first thought to reply that there were no Aqueenians or Hobusians on earth, but he hesitated when he thought she might respond with another 'I know that' as a reply. He tried to come up with another comeback. Fortunately for him, their conversation was interrupted before he had to think of something.

"Feya, we didn't invite him here to talk about the home world," Draco snapped.

"Indeed, Milady, such is a mere wind that whistles past the ear. It shall not enlighten us any further," Hal chimed in from the bed. However, Gwyn wasn't sure what he was trying to add to the conversation. Ingrid silently nodded in agreement with the other two, though only Draco took notice.

Feya let out a deep sigh that was forced to show her dissatisfaction.

"Fine!" she groaned as she rolled her slitted eyes. "Well, Mr. Gwyn, we would like to invite you to join us formally!"

"Join you?"

"Why yes, we would like you to become a Netzian citizen! After the conference, we would like to take you back to the capitol!" she seemed unable to keep her energy under control as she spoke.

Gwyn was taken aback for a moment, but then he collected himself and put his hand to his chin as he entered thought.

He had no idea what he ought to do. He had already had an attempt on his life with the incident in the coliseum, and he couldn't be sure that there would not be another one. However, he was wary of trusting people he had just met, though if the Netzians originated from earth, he could understand why they welcomed him.

"Um, hello, resh to Gwyn," Feya chimed in to break Gwyn out of his thoughts. Gwyn focused back in on the people in the room. "So, what do you have to say!"

Gwyn opened his mouth, though he had not decided and had no idea what he should say.

Don't be too hasty; you can ask for more time to think! Mem chimed in from on his arm. Gwyn jumped slightly as he had already forgotten the Needaimus was there.

"I'm sorry, could I have some time to think about it. I haven't been in this world very long and still need to get my bearings," Gwyn said.

Feya had a noticeable frown at his reply. Her shoulders slumped for a moment, but she soon shot back up straight.

"No problem at all! We will be here for the conference for the next couple of days anyway! Just come see us before the end!" she chipperly replied.

Gwyn only nodded. He took the moment to excuse himself out of the room where he met back up with Fiona.

Once the door had slid shut and the trio outside would have been long gone, Draco spoke up.

"I am still against bringing him to the capitol. Pure Netzian or not, we can't trust him so readily."

"Oh hush, that is why we brought Ingrid with us!" Draco sighed at Feya's dismissal as she turned to look at Ingrid.

The girls' white ears on the top of her head perked up once Gwyn had left. She walked out to one of the beds and gracefully sat on it. The arm she had kept out of Gwyn's view was bonded to a Needaimus that was as snow white as her hair. The other three waited for her to speak up; in Feya's case, it was more like she eagerly waited.

"He has had too many confusing things happen in such a short time. I could barely get a read on him at all," the girl softly admitted as her Needaimus popped off her arm. She gently pat its head, and it seemed to relax from her touch.

"Such is the fate of the woefully inexperienced," Hal groaned as he flopped onto his back. He folded his arms behind his head and stared at the plain ceiling. Ingrid looked down and clutched her skirt tightly.

"Don't mind him at all!" Feya was next to Ingrid in a flash. "You'll have plenty of opportunities to get a read on this Gwyn character!" Feya reassured Ingrid with a gentle pat on the back.

"If there is a next time," muttered Draco in a manner that was only loud enough to be heard by him.